Margaret Vardell Sandresky
Margaret Ferrell Vardell Sandresky (born 28 April 1921) is an American composer, organist and teacher. She was still composing on her 100th birthday.[1][2][3] She was a founding member of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) as well as its first female contibutor.[4]
Biography
Sandresky was born in Macon, Georgia, to a musical family. Her grandmother Linda Rumple Vardell founded the Conservatory of Music at Flora Macdonald College, where her grandfather Charles Graves Vardell also taught. Sandresky’s father Charles Gildersleeve Vardell was a composer and the dean of music at Salem College. Her mother had a degree in piano and voice.[1][5][6]
Sandresky’s first organ lessons were with her father. She earned a BM from Salem College in 1942 and a MM from the
Sandresky taught at the
Sandresky cofounded the North Carolina Composers Symposium[10] and was a founding member of the SMT. She was the first woman in SMT’s history to present at its National Conference of Music Theory and the first woman to publish in its official journal, the Music Theory Spectrum. [4] In 2006, she received the Sam Ragan Award for service to music in the state of North Carolina. She also received the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer Award. [6][10]
Sandresky has received commissions from the American Guild of Organists, the National Endowment for the Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council, the North Carolina Music Teachers Association, and the Reynolda House Museum of American Art.[10][4]
Sandresky noted that she has been heavily influenced by the
Her compositions include:Chamber
- Piano Trio (piano, violin and cello)[1]
- Seven Japanese Drawings (woodwind quintet)[1]
- Two Pieces (recorder and two violas)[1]
Keyboard
- Die Koenige aus Saba kamen da, chorale prelude (organ)[1]
- Du Friedefurst, Herr Jesu Christ, chorale prelude (organ)[1]
- Nocturne (piano)[1]
- Quiet Shining (piano)[1]
- Ricercare (piano)[1]
- To be Played in the Mountains (piano)[1]
- Toccata (harpsichord)[1]
Orchestra
Vocal
- Come Gracious Spirit (chorus and organ)[1]
- Jericho Cantata (chorus and piano)[1]
- King of Glory, King of Peace (unison voices)[1]
- “Marie Brunette”[12]
- “My Heart's in the Highlands”[12]
- “My Soul doth Magnify the Lord” (soprano and organ)[1]
- Psalm 92 (chorus and organ)[1]
- To the Chief Musician: A New Song (soprano, flute, piano and percussion)[1]
- Two Italian Songs (chorus and handbells)[1]
- Windows Cantata (women’s voices, organ and harp)[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9617485-1-7.
- ^ a b "Margaret Ferrell Vardell Weds Clemens Sandresky". Asheville Citizen-Times. 2 Jan 1957. p. 5.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-1138-6.
- ^ a b c d "Audio archives recount early days of music theorist, alumna Margaret Vardell Sandresky | Salem College". www.salem.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ Exchange, Laurinburg (2019-03-04). "Vardell name, history exist with Margaret Vardell Sandresky". Laurinburg Exchange. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ a b c d Sandresky, Margaret Vardell (2010-07-01). "Fluent in Music". Our State Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ a b "Sandresky, Margaret Vardell – Volume 2, The Organ Music of Margaret Vardell Sandresky, Solo Organ". The Leupold Foundation. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-26802-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8161-1117-6.
- ^ a b c d Sandresky, Margaret Vardell. "Sandresky Collection" (PDF). Moravian Music. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ "Sandresky, Margaret Vardell Archives". Paraclete Press Sacred Music. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8161-8498-9.
External links
- Listen to music by Margaret Vardell Sandresky.
- Hear Sandresky’s audio recollections.
- See the Margaret Vardell Sandresky Collection at the Moravian Music Foundation.
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